The versatility of old wood.

Old wood has many qualities. If it's been well treated then it's usually well seasoned. It's generally got character. It can be very versatile. And it's usually quite inexpensive.

There are a few worthy businesses set up these days to reclaim and recycle old wood, thus ensuring that less enters landfill sites as scrap. Some will treat and prepare it, thereby adding value as well as simplifying the conversion process for the end user, like https://www.usefulwood.org/. Well worth a look if you're close and looking to buy some timber even more sustainable than farmed forest wood.

But the best old timber of all has got to be that which you reclaim yourself. Recently, daughter #2 moved into her first owned property. It came with a shed, which had obviously been in the garden for very many years, and was somewhat rickety and ramshackle. It was serving a purpose, but likely to fall apart in the next serious storm.

Time was it came down, and so, and having sourced a suitable replacement (in plastic!!!) the day came to demolish it.

Whilst the roof was seriously sodden chipboard, the sides and base were pretty solid old pine. Stacking the panels behind the fence whilst we constructed the patio for the replacement, we were alerted to the value of the timber by a passer-by, keen to know if he could take it away for us. But by this stage we had plans.....

The old shed has now been converted into various items for the garden. A number of planters, to introduce greenery and colour to the garden....

....and a woodstore to house timber for the woodburner too.

There's a super-sized planting box for salad vegetables.

Since then, and with odds and ends left over there have been other projects too.....

Proof that a little shed goes a long way. There's a bit more left, and a plan to create some strawberry planters in the pergola, so watch this space.